Ray Wietecha, Key to Giants' Glory Days, Dies at 74

By RICHARD GOLDSTEIN

Published: December 22, 2002

Ray Wietecha, the Pro Bowl center who anchored the Giants' superb offensive line during their glory years of the 1950's and early 60's and never missed a game in his 10 pro seasons, died Dec. 14 in Phoenix. He was 74.

The cause was an aneurysm, the Giants said.

Playing for the Giants from 1953 to 1962, Wietecha gained a formidable reputation not only for his blocking but also for the accuracy of his snaps on field-goal attempts and punts. He played on teams that won five Eastern Conference titles and one league championship, a rout of the Chicago Bears in 1956.

He was named to the Pro Bowl in 1955, '58, '60 and '62 and to the all-N.F.L. team in 1958 and appeared in 124 consecutive regular-season games and all six of the Giants' playoff games during his pro career.

Wietecha wasn't especially big, at 6-foot-1 and 225 pounds, but he provided leadership for offensive lines that also featured the Hall of Fame tackle Roosevelt Brown along with Jack Stroud, Bill Austin, Dick Yelvington and Darrell Dess.

Wietecha took special pride in his long snaps and performed that task without peering back at the kicker in order to prepare himself more quickly for onrushing defensive linemen.

He said he was an innovator in getting the laces back in a particular way for the place-kick holder and once recalled the startled reaction to that at the Pro Bowl from one of football's greatest kickers.

''Tommy McDonald was the holder and Lou Groza was the kicker,'' Wietecha told Jim Terzian in ''New York Giants'' (Macmillan, 1973). ''Practice was over and they wanted to kick some. The ball is in front of me. I looked between my legs to see where Tommy was -- O.K., I got him -- and I picked my head up and I snapped the ball back.

''And they went crazy. They said: 'This guy doesn't even look, and the strings always come back perfect. All I have to do is put the ball down and the strings are right there.' ''

Pat Summerall once recalled: ''In four years of place-kicking with the Giants I never saw the laces of the football. Wietecha always snapped the ball with the strings facing front.''

Wietecha also took pride in his blocking and his leadership. ''I could remember assignments,'' he said. ''I told players what to do. I was in charge of that little group up front.''

A native of East Chicago, Ind., Wietecha played on the Northwestern team that defeated California in the 1949 Rose Bowl, and he joined the Giants after playing football in the Marine Corps and minor league baseball in the Washington Senators organization.

After retiring as a player, Wietecha coached offensive lines with the Los Angeles Rams, the Packers -- under Vince Lombardi when Green Bay won Super Bowls I and II in 1967 and 1968 -- the Buffalo Bills, the Giants (1972 to 1976) and the Baltimore Colts. He scouted college players for the Packers from 1985 to 1995.

He is survived by his wife, Joan; three children; and eight grandchildren.

When the Giants were rolling to conference titles, Wietecha and his line protected quarterbacks Charlie Conerly and Y. A. Tittle and blocked for running backs Frank Gifford and Alex Webster. Offensive linemen seldom garner headlines, but as Wietecha once noted: ''When we won, the Giants' offensive line became famous. I became well known.''